. . . however,
the ship Dirigo was forced to put into Queenstown (Cork)
due to a cholera outbreak aboard. The ship was towed back to Liverpool
by the steam vessel Minerva,
arriving there on July 10th 1854. Of the
518 passengers and 51 crew-members, there were 44 deaths recorded as
of July 11th. ... the following extracts are from some of the communications,
including lists' of names.
This extract will begin at the end, pages 27-30, as those
contain the "Report" presented after the Dirigo finally
sailed again from Liverpool on August 9th 1854, with emigrants for South
Australia.

Sir,
I have the honour to report that the ship Dirigo, left the Mersey
at 7 p.m. yesterday the 9th instant, to continue her voyage to
Adelaide, having 420 statute adults on board, all in good health
and spirits.
I avail myself of this opportunity to furnish you with a report
of the circumstances connected with this vessel which have come
under my immediate observation.

She was to have been ready for the reception of her emigrants
at noon on Friday, the 24th June, but owing to various delays,
the whole of her passengers could not be embarked before the 3rd
of July ; and although moved into the Mersey on the 29th June,
she could not, from the rainy and tempestuous weather, finally
sail until the 6th July.
At the final muster
of the emigrants on the 4th of July, when the sailing orders were delivered,
the number on board was equal to 426 statute adults ; and with
the exception of diarrhoea among children (a very common complaint
in emigrant ships at starting), and the case of an emigrant named
Nottage, who was recovering from an attack of the same
malady, all the people answered to their names, and were to all
appearance in good health.
I can only add to this, that the Dirigo is a fine large ship of
about 1,200 tons measurement, with plenty of beam and lofty 'tween
decks ; and that after all the emigrants were comfortably berthed,
there were vacant berths sufficient to have accommodated 20 more.
On the 8th of July, Lieutenant Prior communicated to me
the receipt of your telegraphic message, announcing that the Dirigo had
put into Cork with cholera on board, and the probable return of
the ship to Liverpool. I immediately took steps for providing such
out-hospital room for the accommodation of the sick as was at my
disposal, and for the reception into the depôt of the healthy emigrants,
in case the ship should return to Liverpool.
Our out-hospital room, I may mention, had some time since been
suddenly reduced to one-half of its original accomodation, in consequence
of the premptory notice to quit received from the owner of one
of the two houses engaged for this object ; and although great
efforts had been made by the direction of the Board to obtain other
premises, instead of the house given up, they were unsuccessful,
and were were able to prepare only 10 beds. These were made ready,
and all our depôt arrangements, completed before the following
evening, Sunday the 9th of July.
The Dirigo reached the Mersey from Cork the next
morning at five o'clock, but instead of being allowed to enter
the Birkenhead Dock, she was ordered to the quarantine station
by the Customs' officers at Liverpool. Lieutenant Prior reported
to you the subsequent release of the ship, and his unsuccessful
attempt to obtain admission for the sick into any of the Liverpool
or Birkenhead public hospitals, and also the reluctance of the
authorities to allow the emigrants, sick or healthy, to be re-landed
at all.
I may here observe, as a fact coming within my own knowledge, that
we were not indebted to the corporate action of the Birkenhead
Commissioners, or to that of the Guardians of the Wirral Union,
for the eventual landing of the people, or for those other arrangements
which we were subsequently able to effect for their well-being.
The Board of Guardians of the Wirral Union, as far as I could gather
from the desultory nature of the proceedings at the meeting of
the 11th of July, which I attended with Lieutenant Prior,
concurred, with the exception of two or three of their members,
in the opinion expressed by their medical officer, Mr. Stephens,
viz., that the emigrants ought not to be removed from
the ship, as that was the best place for their treatment and recovery
from cholera. But notwithstanding the objection which we knew to
exist generally as regards the landing of these people in Birkenhead,
I had succeeded, with the assistance of the depôt servants, in
bringing ashore in a steamer about 300 of the healthy emigrants,
at 1 a.m. on the 11th of July ; large fires at both ends of the
dining hall having been previously lighted, and tea already made
to serve them. The thankfulness of these people at finding themselves
once more in the depôt, and as they said, out of danger, more than
repaid the anxiety of those engaged in attending their wants.
One considerable advantage resulted, however, from the meeting
of the Guardians to which I have just alluded. A deputation (consisting
fortunately of some of the dissidents from Mr. Stephens'
opinion), to which Lieutenant Prior, the Rev. Mr.
Welch, the depôt chaplain,
and myself were added, was formed for the purpose of waiting upon
the officer of the Liverpool Board of Health, Captain Bevis,
to ascertain the practicability of having a hulk, then moored in
one
of the docks, brought out into the river, and fitted in time to
meet the emergency of the case ; but while on our way to Liverpool,
Lieutenant Prior urged upon the gentlemen accompanying
us the superior advantage of carrying out a suggestion, made, I
believe, by Mr.
Welch, to build an iron house as a cholera hospital in some
spot at a distance from the town, which could be got ready in a
few
hours. This plan, too, it was thought might probably remove the
great repugnance which prevailed at the meeting of the Wirral Board
of Guardians to adopt any other course than that of keeping the
emigrants on board the Dirago, or of removing
them into a hulk. Lieutenant
Prior's recommendation was finally agreed to at Messrs.
Coltart,s,
the owners of the ship : thanks to their offer to bear all the
expenses connected with the erection of the house. Is is, however,
but an act of justice to state that Mr. Case, a member
of the Wirral Board of Guardians, afterwards accompanied me to
Mr. Laird, who readily granted us a piece of land, and
to Mr. Hemming, the iron jouse builder ; and I consider
that, but for the assistance of these gentlemen, the great progress
which was made towards the construction and putting up of the building,
before the close of the same day, Tuesday, could not have been
effected. The iron house was calculated to hold about 35 beds,
which, together with the 10 beds in our old out-hospital, gave
45 beds in all.
I have already reported to you the circumstances under which, after
our own arrangements for providing hospital room were on the point
of completion, we had an offer from the relieving officer at Birkenhead,
on Wednesday evening, the 12th of July, to admit some of our cholera
patients into the Union Infirmary. Accordingly, a second party,
consisting of 65 emigrants, were landed at 3 a.m. on the 13th ;
and the sick, in all about 25, were conveyed to that place.
At this time there were only 20 people remaining in the ship, chiefly
sick and convalescent ; and when they were landed on the following
night, they were divided between the depôt, our own out-hospital,
and the infirmary.
I did not, however, overlook, while attending to my other duties,
the importance of carrying out the Commissioner's instructions
to induce the people to take daily walking exercise in the country.
On several occasions I took parties of women and children to spend
part of the day in the park, adjoining Birkenhead, regaling them
with cakes and milk ; at another time, I hired half a dozen spring
carts, and conveyed the whole of the people, men, women, and children,
a few miles into the country ; giving them, in addition to their
usual rations, which we took with us, a liberal supply of cakes
and milk, and a small allowance of beer for the men ; and still
further to encourage them to take exercise in the open air, away
from the town, a notice was posted at the depôt, that such as might
desire it should have cooked rations for the whole day served out
to them in the morning.
I have much gratification in pointing to the success which attended
these simple efforts to promote the healthful recreation and amusement
of these people ; for instead of leaving, en masse, dispirited
and discontented, long before the time came for a general muster
preparatory to re-embarkation, good health, good spirits, and confidence
were restored, and the number of those who had returned to their
homes, instead of being 250, as at first threatened, did not exceed
50 adults altogether ; that is to say, the number in adults of
the original passengers who re-embarked was about 300.
The deaths on board the Dirigo, between the time
she left the Mersey and her return to the river on the 10th of
July, were 31 in number,
viz. 30 cholera cases, including the elder Nottage,
and one case (Nottages's daughter) not reported cholera. Ten more
died in the river before the last of the people were re-landed
on the morning of the 14th of July.
Out of the 300 healthy emigrants admitted
into the depôt on the 11th
July, 51 were prescribed for on that day, including cases of cholera,
diarrhoea, colds, &c. Eight of these afterwards proving cases of
acute cholera, were removed to the out-hospitals. Between the 12th
and the 17th, when the last case occurred among the emigrants, only
three more cases of acute cholera had been removed, besides one of
the depôt nurses ; and patients under treatment at the depôt was
reduced on the 21st to two persons.
There were altogether 58 patients in the depôt, from first to last,
labouring under premontitory symptoms of cholera. These, with the
exception of those already named as having been removed to the out-hospital,
yielded to medical treatment. The number of patients admitted into
our own out-hospital was 12, including the depôt nurse. Of these,
four recovered, six died, and two were removed to the infirmary.
The number of patients admitted into the infirmary was 37, including
one of the seamen of the ship, who still remains under medical treatment
; of the rest 10 died and 26 recovered.
There were therefore 47 cases of acute cholera in all after the ship
returned to the Mersey, 35 of which were landed in that state from
the ship, and 12, who had been admitted into the depôt, afterward
attacked. Out of these 47 there were 16 deaths and 31 recoveries.
The total mortality from first to last was 57.

I have, &c.
(signed) C. Stuart Bailey .

ON BOARD THE EMIGRANT SHIP DIRIGO

Copy of a LETTER from W.L. Echlin, Esq., to S.
Walcott, Esq.

Dirigo, Birkenhead Dock,
14 July 1854

Sir,
I beg to forward to you a list of the late sufferers on board the
ship Dirigo, Joseph Trevellick, commander, which is dated from
the 5th to the 14th instant.

I have, &c.
(signed) William L. Echlin .

LIST of Deaths on board the Dirigo,
from the 5th to the 14th July 1854

the families of those marked with * are thought to have continued
to Australia aboard Dirigo

Name

Married

Single

Children

M

F

M

F

M

F

James Mathison

1

Diarrhoea

Eliza Nottage

13

Cholera

John Nottage

39

—

Edward Bentley

46

—

*

Jane Turnbull

55

—

?

Duncan Frazier

28

—

?

James Kelly

20

—

*

William McAlpine

55

—

*

John McAlpine

7

Consumption

Jane Donkin

20

Cholera

Mary Foster

31

—

Martha Taylor

17

—

Rose Henry

28

—

Ann Doory

31

—

*

Andrew Scott

12

—

*

Martha Winton

21

—

Margaret Ogstone

26

—

William H. Francis

1

—

Flora Kennedy

25

—

*

James Shelton

1

—

*

Jennett Amos

28

—

Agnes Dick

47

—

?

Thomas Millar

35

—

Janet Davidson

48

—

*

James Turnbull

24

—

?

John Dell / (Dale ?)

1

—

*

Mary Assherton

22

—

John Morris

1 (?)

—

Shepherd Morris

24

—

David Morris

24

—

William Simpson

22

—

Margaret Simpson

23

—

Hugh Simpson

1

—

Ann Frances

11

—

*

Charles Sadler

2

—

*

John Sadler

1 (?)

—

*

James Mullins

26

—

*

Mary Allebrand

39

—

Mary Kennedy

1

—

Ann McKey

1

—

James Gellespie

28

—

*

Lawrence Campbell

3

—

*

John Shelton

24

—

Michael Nealy

45

—

wife Anne Nealy and daughter Ellen, still sick in hospital
as of August 4th 1854.

Ann Kerr (Margaret ?)

35

—

11

11

4

8

6

5

.....................45

Died at the Depôt to 12 p.m., July 14th

.......................4Total ............49

the following selected extracts are from pages 16-23

Copy of a LETTER from S. Walcott, Esq., to Lieutenant
Prior, R.N.

15 July, 1854.

Sir,
I am directed by the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners
to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 14th
instant, reporting the progress of the emigrants of
the Dirigo, and the measure you have taken for purifying
the bedding and clothes.
The Commissioners desire me
to express their approval of your arrangements, and
their satisfaction at the
apparent arrest of the disease. In regard to alleged
unwillingness of the people to be again embarked on
board the Dirigo, the Commissioners
are not surprised at such a a feeling at the present
moment. But they trust that when the first alarm has
worn off, and the people see the arrangements made
for purifying the ship and making her wholesome, they
will not object to re-embark in her. Perhaps it would
be better not to urge them on the point too soon, but
to allow them a little time to overcome their apprehensions.

I am, &c.
(signed) S. Walcott .

Extract of a LETTER from Lieutenant Prior, R.N., to
S. Walcott, Esq.;
dated Government Emigration Office, Liverpool, 15 July
1854.

I beg to enclose the medical
report of Dr. Holcombe from Birkenhead. The ship Dirigo is
now undergoing a thorough cleaning, and I intend, as
early as possible,
to commence fumigating. The sailor who was expected to
die is recovering, and is the only one on board the ship
; he was not sufficiently recovered to be removed. * * * * I
have given Dr. Echlin 48 hours' leave after his long
and trying duties, which I believe he has performed with
untiring attention. I feel confident the Commissioners
will approve of this. I have also seen Mr. R.P. Evans,
and Dr. Echlin's opinion is, that he will answer ; I
have therefore ordered him to produce such documents
as are necessary to satisfy me as to his general conduct.

My dear Prior,

Birkenhead, Friday night, 14th July 1854

Since yesterday
I am sorry to say the cases of diarrhoea at the depôt
have been on the increase, but for today I have had
to prescribe for 18 others ; these, with 29 of yesterday,
make 47 ; but I am happy to say many of them are
not at all alarming, and after a dose or two of medicine
will, I doubt not, do very well ; but this morning
I was obliged to send a man and a boy to the workhouse
hospital. Last night, or, more correctly speaking,
this morning, between one and two o'clock, we landed
the last of the sick passengers, who are going on
well at the hospital. I was anxious to have landed
them at an earlier hour, but the authorities would
not hear of it, for fear our doing so would excite
a mob. These landed, I ordered the boat to return
to the ship for a corpse (one of the sailors), which
was at once taken to the dead-house. As regards the
landing of the sheeting and bags with clothes, at
the onset, we met with an obstacle on the part of
the crew ; the men refused to work in consequence
of their comrades having caught the disease ; however,
after a little coaxing, they consented, but, with
the exception of two or three, they have abandoned
the ship. Many of the passengers must have taken
their clothes out of their bags (for the bags could
not be found) and transferred them to boxes ; these
therefore must be landed tomorrow.
The report of the number
of deaths having varied, I have just returned from
the hospitals, and find
only two died yesterday and two today, a much smaller
number than was circulated abroad. I am happy to
say they are all going on as well as can be expected.
The rain of today has interrupted the progress of
the iron house, but it is sure to be completed tomorrow.
The doctor of the ship will wait upon you tomorrow
at 10 o'clock.

Believe me, &c.
(signed) Charles Alexander Holcombe .

There is one sailor still on board
too ill to be landed.
Mr. Smith informs me that
all the sheets and bags containing clothes are to
be dipped into a solution of chloride of zinc. Will
you give me orders about this ? only remember that
the fluid is a bleaching liquid, and coloured things
may be destroyed by so doing.

To the Government Colonial Land an Emigration Commissioners.
The Humble Memorial of the Passengers per Ship
Dirigo.

Most humbly showeth,
That we consider the ship Dirigo quite unfit for us passengers to proceed in, as she is
at all times damp, and very
much given to leakage. We have the opinion of many
of the sailors as to the above-mentioned fact, together
with our own experience. We were on board for 14 days,
and during that length of time she was constantly wet
; and we consider that the damp state of the ship tended
greatly to the progress of the disease we had amongst
the passengers.
Memorialists are ready to give their sworn testimony
as to the facts stated in this memorial.
The passengers beg leave to state
that our medical attendant allowed diseased passengers
to come on board, which we
consider was the first and principal cause of the fatal
disease that swept so many of our passengers to an untimely
end, as the passengers up to that unfortunate day were
free from any infectious disease.
Many of the memorialists further
beg to state that the doctor wilfully neglected to attend
many of the dying
when called upon to do so, he not being occupied at the
time more than walking on deck. Memorialists have many
minor complaints to make that they consider too numerous
to put here, as they hope for an inquiry into the whole
case.

And memorialists, as in duty bound, shall ever pray.

Archibald Kennedy

Patrick Cacey

James Clark

Robert McBeath

George Hogarth

George Thomson

John Hartnett

Francis Omara

John Laidlaw

Andrew Eglinton

James Mahar

Walter Laidlaw

Patrick O'Brien

Richard Harnett

Thomas Scott

Michael Davoren

Michael Harnett

Garrit More (Garrett Moore)

John Shelton

James Milne

Thomas Dale

James Davoren

Andrew Thomson

James Crowe

William Rogers

Nathaniel Butterworth

Henry Jennings

Thomas Byrns

Patrick Crowe

Thomas Hubbard

James Morony

Maurice Moore

James Newton

John Scott

Michael Moore

William Dale

Denis Davoren

Daniel Omara

Samuel Mindman (Hindman)

Samuel Inglis

James McGregor

Christian Ingles

John Gardiner

Robert Marshall

Isabel Turnbull

William Collie

Charles Macleod

Janet Turnbull

Robert Oliver

William Bell

Agnes Turnbull

John Denniston

Thomas Thorpe

Margaret Turnbull

John K. Inches

James Turnbull

Mary Hogarth

Thomas Stanton

John McEwen

Helen Hogarth

Angus Mackay

Andrew Hogarth

Helen Waters

Robert Dalgliesh

William McAlpine

Isabella McAlpine

William Lauder

John McDonald

Christina Spalding

Andrew Brookman

Alexander Ross

Jane Thomson

Robert Smith

Martin McDonald

Jessie Thomson

James Outon

George Amos

Ellen Power

George Inglis

John Dale

Mary Delany

Donald McBeath

John Nicholson

Elizabeth Hobkirk

John Duncanson

Edmund Retchford

Margaret Spalding

John Wilson

William Nolan

Jane King

William Mills

Edward Nolan

Christian McAlpine

Walter Holkirk / Hobkirk

Daniel Polson

Jessie Gollam

David Kirkwood

James Henry

Margaret McIntyre

George Dick

Richard Retchford

Margaret Hemption

Ewen Rankin

John Corbet

Marian Ross

James Turton

his
Michael X Durick
mark

Margaret Milroy

John Huffer

Isabella McKinnan

John Mullins

Jane Goray

John Lynch

William Winton

Elizabeth Ramsay

Thomas Matthews

Jasper Muir

Anne Duguid

15 July 1854.

The
majority of the 118 passengers who signed this memorial,
re-embarked on Dirigo, see
passenger
list ;
note the name spelling variations
and / or spelling errors even included within the list
above. Some for example, like Edmund & Richard Retchford
(and mother Mary Ann) and Archibald Kennedy and family
appear
to have embarked on the James
Fernie, which departed Liverpool August
18th and arrived at Adelaide six days before Dirigo.

Copy of a LETTER from S. Walcott,
Esq., to Lieutenant Prior, R.N.

19 July, 1854.

Sir,
I am directed by the Colonial Land and Emigration Commissioners
to inform you that they have received and had under
consideration a memorial from a number of passengers
by the Dirigo, complaining that the
vessel is damp ; that passengers were received on board
in a state
of disease, and that the surgeon neglected his duties.
The memorialists, on these and other grounds which
they do not specify, request an inquiry into the whole
case.
The Commissioners request you
to assure the memorialists of their anxiety to promote
in every way the comfort and well-being of passengers
sent out in Government ships. In respect to the alleged
dampness of the Dirigo, the Commissioners apprehend
that the extreme dampness of the weather at the time
she sailed would have made any ship damp, and that
the fault was not in the ship itself. The memorialists
may feel confident that every precaution will be taken
thoroughly to dry the ship before any persons are re-embarked
in her, and you will, of course, look to the caulking
of the deck and topsides, in case it may have suffered
since the ship was originally inspected.
In respect to the presence
of passengers in a state of disease on board when the Dirigo sailed,
there seems so reason to doubt that when the ship cleared
out the passengers were all apparently in good health.
Sickness having broken out so immediately afterwards,
shows, no doubt, that the seeds of it were latent in
the ship at that times ; but that is a fact which human
skill is unable to detect, especially in the case of
cholera, where the disease often appears in its most
malignant form without any warning at all. Nothing
can be further from the practise or wishes of the Commissioners
than to allow any vessel to proceed to sea, in an unhealthy
condition.
With respect to the alleged
neglect of the surgeon, the Commissioners observe that
the complaint is not
concurred in by all the memorialists. They can scarcely
doubt, from the accounts transmitted to them respecting
the surgeon, that the complaint has arisen from some
mistake, perhaps not unnatural in the agitation and
alarm of the moment, in regard to the surgeon's conduct.
You may assure the memorialists, however, that the
Dirigo will not be sent to sea again
without a second surgeon on board to assist Mr. Echlin
in his arduous
duties, and without a full supply of medicines and
medical comforts. And the Commissioners hope that her
future voyage will be as prosperous as those of other
ships which have in the same way put back with sickness,
and have, after being cleansed and purified, beend
sent to sea again and reached the Australian colonies
without any return of sickness.

I am, &c.
(signed) S. Walcott .

Copy of a LETTER from Lieutenant Prior,
R.N., to S. Walcott, Esq.

Government Emigrantion Office,
18 July 1854.

Sir,
I beg to send forward a letter
received from the surgeon-superintendent, with remarks
on the ship Dirigo. With regard to hospitals,
I quite agree with the surgeon as to the desirableness
of having the hospitals placed in the poop, as also
his suggestion as to the appointment of nurses for the
hospitals. With regard to the pumping of the ship, I
will see it carried out in the Dirigo, and all other
ships, if it meet the approbation of the Commissioners.
I also enclose a list of passengers
who rendered great service during the sickness on board
the Dirigo. I would beg to recommend
them to the favourable consideration of the Commissioners.
The patients are all going on well, both in the hospital
and the iron house.
I am sorry to inform you that one of the nurses appointed
to the depôt hospital has been seized with cholera this
morning, which I fear will be fatal. There has also been
one of
the passengers sent to hospital as a doubtful case.

I also draw
your attention to the position of the male and female
hospitals on board the ship Dirigo,
now in the Birkenhead Docks.
These hospitals are situated at the extremities of the
lower deck, in juxtaposition with the healthy.
Around the male hospital the first cases of cholera took
place, and many of the passengers would not be persuaded to occupy their births
on account of their proximity to the hospitals.
Had the situation of these hospitals been in a different
part of the ship, the sick could have been instantly separated from the healthy,
and by doing so prevent the possibility of a panic such as took place.
The part of the ship that I would recommend for an hospital
would be the poop-deck, as it is isolated from all other parts of the ship ;
it is light, cool, well-ventilated, with bath-room attached, and easy to access.
I would also recommend for your consideration that four
nurses be appointed, or one for every fifty passengers (two male and two female
nurses.)
I would also draw your attention to the pumping of the
ship ; the water is very offensive, and ought to be carried from the pump to
the outside of the ship by means of a hose.
Hoping that you will excuse me troubling you with these
few remarks,

Lieutenant Prior.

I have, &c.
(signed) William L. Echlin .
Surgeon Superintendent

Birkenhead, 18th July 1854

I beg to forward
to you the names of those persons who were on board
the ship Dirigo during the late outbreak of cholera,
and devoted themselves to the services of their afflicted
fellow-passengers.

The matron, Miss Carter

Jane Gray

Margaret Anderson

Margaret Milroy

Elizabeth Ramsey (Ramsay)

Mrs. Eggleton (Eglinton)

Ellen Rooney

Mr. and Mrs. Short

Isabella McGregor

Thomas Staunton (Stanton)

Lear Larmouth ?

John Saddler

Eleanor Harrison

William Garth

with
the exception of the matron, Miss Carter,
and the yet unidentified "Lear Larmouth"
and Margaret Milroy,
all these passengers re-embarked on Dirigo

There are 13 of the ship's company whose names willl
be forwarded to you tomorrow.

Lieutenant Prior.

I have, &c.
(signed) William L. Echlin .

the sailors' names were not included
in the papers

Copy of a LETTER from William L.
Echlin,
Esq., to Stephen Walcott, Esq.

Sir,

Birkenhead, 24th July 1854

Sir,
Enclosed is a Post-office order
for 3l., less the office charge, the property
of James Kelly, who died on the 9th instant
on board the Dirigo, from cholera. He
was in possession of 5l. 4s. 3d.
and three copper tokens ; this sum he wished divided
between his mother Margaret Kelly, of Gorthalough, county
Clare, Ireland, and his cousin, Mary Kelly, a passenger.
To the latter, 2l. 4s. 3d.
and the tokens were given (to Mrs. Kelly [Mary
Kelly, cousin & wife of James ?]) in his presence, and with
his consent ; the balance is enclosed in the Post-office
order to
you, to be forwarded to Margaret Kelly, care of Miles
Kean, Mall Ennis, county of Clare.Margaret Kerr, a single woman,
who died on the 9th instant, has left in my charge a
gold watch, seal, key, two gold rings, a purse containing
3s., three keys (box), and a steel guard chain, to be
given to Joseph Kerr, of the vessel Joseph
Rowan, of
Adelaide ; she made no mention about the disposal of
her boxes.Mary Carter, the matron
of the ship, whose conduct has been most praiseworthy
during the period of sickness on board, wishes for her
sister, Elizabeth Wallis Carter, a seamstress and domestic
servant, to accompany her to Adelaide as a Government
emigrant, if it would meet with approval of the Commissioners.
I would beg to draw your attention
to the capacity of the boats on board the Dirigo,
seven in number, whether they would afford suffiicient
accommodation in case of accident for the passengers
and crew. The average number of persons that these boats
could carry would be about 50 each, which multiplied
by seven, would give space for 350 adults. The numbers
on board at the time of sailing were 426 adults, or 517
souls, and a crew consisting of 51.
I would recommend the addition
of two more life-boats, and in addition a few dozen of
life-belts ; the latter, if not required, could be returned
to England for the use of other ships.
I would also recommend an extra
supply of good vinegar for fumigation, instead of so
much chloride of lime ; the former has the disinfecting
properties of the latter, soon dries, which the chloride
does not. I believe that vinegar is generally used in
the Royal Navy.
I would also draw your attention
to the advantage it would afford to the emigrant (who
seldom is in possession of a greater amount of clothing
than that prescribed by the Government regulation) to
have a washing machine, such as exhibited at the Polytechnic
Institution, Regent-street, London, sometime since. This
appeared to me at the time I viewed it as complete, cheap,
and portable ; the washing and drying taking place in
a very short space of time.
It could conveniently be fixed
next to the coppers, and quite separated from the kitchens
; by having such an apparatus on board it would promote
cleanliness amongst the emigrants, and prevent the slop
that must necessarily take place, for although washing
is done on the open deck, it is quite impossible to prevent
the traffic from the upper to the lower deck.
The depôt has been under my
charge since the 19th instant, and I am happy in stating
that only three cases of incipient cholera have appeared,
and these are nearly recovered.
Dr. Holcombe, who is attending
upon the fumigation and cleansing of the ship, will soon
bring his labours to a close.
Hoping that you will excuse the
liberty I have taken in making these few remarks,

I remain, &c.
(signed) William L. Echlin .

in
later communications the Commissioners allowed the
sister of Mary Carter, the matron, Elizabeth
Wallis Carter, to qualify as a Government emigrant,
however, after the 27th of July, Mary Carter and
her sister decided to postpone their emigration to a
later
time, on another
ship. Agnes Short, wife of David Short then
assumed the position of matron aboard Dirigo.